Ten Years Later
by TheWritingGirl23
Summary: In honor of 9/11, a short fic of the sorrows of lost family and friends, and how life will continue on even after tragedy.


**In honor of all the the people and firefighters affected by 9/11. God bless you all.**

The car pulled up to the curb beside Ground Zero. The air was cool and the sky was blue, with the flow of the water in the memorial fountains muffling the city noise.

The woman approached the the edge of the north fountain. She made her way to a particular spot, where several names were engraved in the memorial to those who had lost their lives to the collapsing towers.

Katherine Pryde removed her hat, running a gloved hand over the names, three in particular. Tears slid down her cheeks and her heart seemed to crack open anew as her eyes beheld the three names: Anna Marie Darkholme, Remy Lebeau, and Lance Alvers.

She drew in a shaky breath.

"Hey guys. I can't believe it's been ten years. I'm still crying. Just wanted you to know that we're still thinking of you all."

"A lot has changed. Little Annie is pretty big now and she's certainly Peter's little girl. Looks like me but is much more like him: a perfect artist and unbelievably polite. She does have some fire from her Auntie Anna she never got to meet. Wouldn't you know it, she got a hamster for her birthday and named him Lance." Kitty hiccupped and wiped her eyes.

"Everyone's been doing okay I guess. The Prof still runs the school but Scott and Jean are the active headmasters. Rachel and Nathan are turning into quite the prodigies. They're great kids, not nearly as uptight as their parents, and I know you guys would have liked them. Storm and Logan are still together. I asked Logan if he wanted to come, but he still can't come here with other people. Can't show himself crying over his Stripes. The Morlocks are fine with Evan and he visits more these days. Amara and Sam are engaged and Jubilee is pregnant. I wish you could see Bobby strutting around like a peacock, insisting it's gonna be a boy. They all work teaching jobs, both at the institute and the academy."

"You'd be glad to know how well the academy kids are doing. Lee has assumed a teaching position, even if he hasn't quite healed. He never seemed complete without Lilly. The others have become full fledged X-men and making us proud." Her head lowered.

"We still haven't healed. When we got the news that the towers had been hit and your team was on the job, we were more scared than we've ever been, except for maybe Apocalypse. I don't know why it had to happen then when everything was perfect. The insitute was full and we had our separate branches here in Manhatten and in Westchester. Rogue, you had finally gotten control, Remy and you were perfect together and Lance…You had joined us, and I was more happy than I'd ever been. You were going to be a wonderful X-man. Then…"

Kitty stopped, allowing the tears to splash onto the smooth surface below. "Then the attacks. You were closest and your team was on the job. We trusted you and you had a great group. But when we got there and saw the towers, we didn't know what to do. Then they came down. Rogue, Remy, you died together in the first tower. I'm glad knowing you weren't alone. Lilly and Ryan were killed in the same tower. I'll never forget Lee's face when he found out his twin was gone. It was the only time I've seen him cry. Lance, you went down in the north tower. Remember, I was talking to you on the comlink. You told me you loved me right before the building collapsed."

"I never got to say I loved you back. After that, we were never quite the same. Logan left for months, and Kurt was always crying. Pietro and Wanda with the rest of the Brotherhood were out here helping the crews everyday in the search, and Pyro was bawling his eyes out for his best mate."

"We held a funeral. It was beautiful and there's a special place for you all in the back garden under a silver birch tree we planted. It's full of flowers and a stone for everyone. John comes by everyday to relight the brazier. The Prof is helping him a lot more these days. Erik even stops by now and then and he was there for the memorial service."

Kitty sobbed, not even trying to stop it. "We miss all of you: Lance, Rogue, Remy, Lilly, Ryan, Page, Sarah, and Juan. The others were planning to come tomorrow on the weekend, but I couldn't wait. Don't worry, tomorrow I'll be back with Peter and Annie and all the rest of the gang. For now, I hope this is enough."

She set down a small basket and pulled out several objects, symbolic to each fallen teammate. A black pair of gloves, a rock inscribed with the initials KP and LA, a pack of playing cards, a tiger's claw, a necklace in pink to match a certain member's hair, a pinecone, a good luck charm, and a corn husk. Kitty looked down into the frothing water one last time before backing away.

"We'll never forget you." She turned away from the memorial, the tears still falling, but her heart lighter.

**Lilly, Lee, Ryan, and Juan are my own OCs. Again, God bless all those out there who were affected by 9/11. In honor of Patriots' Day.**


End file.
